Matthew 4:12-25 (Click title for audio access)
"The Messiah's Message, Men And Methods." • 5.9.10 • Calvary Colton Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- Jesus is about to be a public figure unlike any other in history. He comes out of the obscurity of the wilderness and out into the world that would be His audience.
- I wonder what He looked and sounded like. Thankfully, we need not wonder about what He said or did.
- While Matthew does not provide us with a comprehensive picture, He does furnish us with what we need to know about the Messiah, the promised One that would deal with our ultimate issue.
- In the section before us, we have a summation statement of the next portion of Christ's. Matthew synopsizes three subjects that people would immediately want to know. He gives us
I. Messiah's Message (v.12-17)
II. Messiah's Men (v.18-22)
III. Messiah's Methods (v.23-25)
Text
I. Messiah's Message (v.12-17)
• Matthew 4:12,13 : "Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali," : Matthew notes quickly that John, Jesus' cousin was imprisoned. About a year has passed since verse 11.
- Jesus has not been idle. Much has happened since the events of the temptation. In fact, if you studied the first 4 chapters of John and the 4th chapter of Luke, you'd get a complete picture.
- Matthew points out that the pivotal moment was John the Baptsist's imprisonment.
- John's strong voice had been heard in high political places, and his call for righteousness landed him in prison. We'll talk more about the specifics of John imprisonment in chapter 11.
- From here, Jesus traveled about 25 miles north to Capernaum, which is a prime location just off of the sea of Galilee. The Galilee was populated with over 200 villages.
- When you and I think of villages, we imagine a few people with wicker baskets living off of wheat and corn fields. Maybe there would be 20 or so people per village. Josephus says different!
- He reports that each village held over 15,000 people. This was a densely populated area where the Messiah would spend most of his time.
• Matthew 4:14-16 : "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 'The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.'" : His move north was more than a convenient re-location. It was a move that was foretold by the prophet Isaiah. In case you are keeping track, this is the 7th such prophetic notice.
- Matthew quotes here from Isaiah 9, which is a famous Messianic prophecy. The quotes come from Isaiah 9:1 and 2. It sounds like this:
• Isaiah 9:1,2 : "Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, As when at first He lightly esteemed The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined." : What is the gloom that Isaiah is talking about? In chapter 8, Isaiah described an environment that involved deep spiritual oppression.
- The history of the Galilee goes back to the time of King Solomon, who gave the cities of Galilee to the King of Tyre, in exchange for his help with the building of the temple. (I Kings 9:11,12)
- Later, when the Kingdom of Israel was divided, Galilee became a part of the northern kingdom, which was ruled by mostly wicked Kings.
- Finally, when Assyria came in and conquered Israel, they took away the natives and replaced them with conquered people from other nations, thus the region was influenced by the Gentiles.
˚ "Galilee was not just geographically far from Jerusalem; it was considered spiritually and politically far, too. Galilee was the most pagan of the Jewish provinces, located as it was at the northernmost tier of Palestine. This distance from Zion was not only geographic; Galileans were considered by Judaeans to sit rather loosely to the law and to be less biblically pure than those in or near Jerusalem. Finally, Galilee was notorious for being the nest of revolution and the haunt of Zealot revolutionary movements. Just a few years before Jesus’ birth, Sephoris, capital city of Galilee, had been led in revolt by Judas of Galilee against the Roman government and had brought Galilee into defeat and many of the people of God into shame."[1] Fredrick Dale Bruner
- Jesus came into this region, which seems to have been the playground of the enemy. The people there were in darkness; Jesus was the Light that was about to shine brightly in that region.
˚ "Our Lord courts not those who glory in their light, but those who pine in their darkness; He comes with heavenly life, not to those who boast of their own life and energy, but to those who are under condemnation, and who feel the shades of death shutting them out from light and hope." Charles Spurgeon
- How did Jesus bring light into that Galilee region?
• Matthew 4:17 : "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" : Jesus began to preach! This is how He brought light to that area!
- The Messiah came with a message. His message was identical to that of John the Baptist.
- The first word that Jesus said was the same as John the Baptist: Repent!
- As we mentioned a few chapters ago, coming to Christ necessitates a radical transfer. To come to Christ is to leave whatever it is that you value most.
- Is it sin? You must leave it to come to Christ.
- Is it self-righteousness? You must leave it and come to Christ.
- Is it indifference? You must leave it and come to Christ.
- This call is general, to all that might be within earshot. To the person who does not yet believe in Christ, the message is the same: Repent!
- You and I have one message that we proclaim as well. Jesus has come to seek and save the lost. Are you lost? Repent and come to the King!
- Too often the church is guilty of offering a message that Jesus did not offer! Are you offering them principles that are meant for believers? The first principle is first: Repent!
- In Christ's day, His first coming brought a chance for men to voluntarily submit themselves to Him as King. He offers the opportunity to every man and woman.
- Today, that offer has been extended through us, but a time will come when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
II. Messiah's Men (v.18-22)
• Matthew 4:18 : "And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen." : Matthew does not intend to give us the full picture of any one of these main characters. He is on the fastrack to lining out this revolutionary life of Jesus.
- In this verse, if we were not aware, it would seem that this was the first time that Jesus had ever met these men. However, the other gospels fill in the details for us.
- Andrew was the first of the disciples to meet Jesus. He originally had followed John the Baptist until John sent him toward Jesus.
- From there, Andrew brought Jesus to meet Peter. Peter at first, was not wanting Jesus to encroach upon his life. He and Andrew were professional fishermen.
- Matthew would have us know that they were actively involved in this trade, as they received this call from Jesus while they were casting a net into the sea.
• Matthew 4:19,20 : "Then He said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.' They immediately left their nets and followed Him.'" : Jesus saw them and saw something in them that we cannot really understand.
- Why did He pick fishermen? These men were men of the sea, very rough around the edges, and certainly not men that were trained in the matters of religion.
- Maybe that's why He picked them: He had little re-programming to do! Ultimately, His choice of these men reveal more about His glory and power than about their abilities.
- The same is true for each of us.
- Please note carefully the call that He made to them: Follow me. Stop there and consider those words.
- The word translated "follow" means to come after. There is a sense of immediacy and command. Listen to a few meanings to the word "follow."
˚ "to go or come after; move behind in the same direction; to accept as a guide or leader; accept the authority of or give allegiance to; to conform to, comply with, or act in accordance with; obey:"[2]
- All of these are intrinsically true when it comes to evaluating whether or not I am following: Am I moving in the same direction as Christ?
- Am I accepting His authority over my life? Am I acting in accordance with Christ?
- These are questions that we should ask each other daily! Am I a follower? Now, note the next word: ME!
- Follow Me, says Jesus! This is such a powerful moment, in that Jesus still calls men and women, wherever they are, in whatever they are doing, to follow Him!
- He does not say that we should follow a church, a Pastor, a leader, or each other! The world stumbles on this point, and does so needlessly.
- Jesus says that we are to follow Him! Follow Him and the results will be that the disciples will be fishers of men, evangelists.
- He will make them that. They would simply follow Him. It's a two word job description. When we do the folllowing, Jesus does the manufacturing! In this case, they would be fishers of men.
- Their very livelihood would provide an illustration for their call. Notice that following Him would produce the by-product of their purpose.
- Often times today, people are trying to find a purpose and then find the Lord in it! Jesus says that it's backward: You find your purpose when you begin to follow Him!
- When Jesus made this call, they immediately left their nets. Now, when we talk about repentance, there is a sense of leaving a life behind to claim a life in Christ.
- At the same time, when God calls, there must be a leaving that occurs as well. They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
- Am I saying that we need to leave jobs, ditch responsibilities, and move on into a homeless existence to follow Christ? I'm not saying that we have to; I'm saying we should be willing to!
- Peter and Andrew did not know that that day would be their last day of self-employment.
- There may come a time when God would reach out to you with the same call. How would you respond?
• Matthew 4:21,22 : "Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him." : Jesus is not done with His recruiting tour of the Galilee. He has His eyes on a few other fishermen as well.
- James and John will be an interesting pair down the road. Here, they were in the boat with their Father and they were mending their nets.
- The word "mending" means that they were repairing the nets. Over time, the fisherman's net would get a few holes along the way.
- With the expense of a new net, it was better to fix the one you had. We can assume that the message was the same, because their response was the same.
- They left their business and their family. Matthew notes this particularly, that their boat and their Father were left behind.
- Don't get the wrong idea: Zebedee was the owner of the boat, and he likely had several fishermen beside his sons.
- What Matthew is intending for us to see is that the boys left their inheritance, the family business behind. They were leaving behind a profitable business to follow Jesus.
- Additionally, they are leaving behind family. God's call may be in the middle of your employment, it may cost you a dream and it may alienate you from your family!
- To follow Jesus, there may be great cost to you personally. But a great reward, in this case, eternal life, requires great investment!
III. Messiah's Methods (v.23-25)
• Matthew 4:23 : "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people." : When you talk about the region surrounding the sea of Galilee, you are talking about a 65 mile area.
- At it's widest point, the lake itself is 13 miles north to south and 7 miles east to west.
- It's not a huge area physically, but Jesus will spend a good deal of time here, which makes it significant spiritually.
- Jesus went into the synagogues to teach. A synagogue was formed when there were 12 adult males in any city. They would read the Torah together and fellowship.
- Jesus went into these places, often as a itinerate guest. Can you imagine what it was like to hear Him speak!
- When He was out and about, He was preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. We noted that the word "preaching" meant to announce or to proclaim. What was He proclaiming? The gospel.
- This is the first time we see this word in the New Testament, indeed in the whole Bible.
- The word is interesting. It means quite literally, the good news or good words.
- Jesus announcing that the Kingdom has come, that the King has come, is good news indeed.
- His preaching was approved by the actions that He performed.
• Matthew 4:24,25 : "Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan." : When Jesus went about His mission, the people responded. Jesus is showing tangibly what the Kingdom is like.
- When He is King and the Kingdom is in full effect, the effects of sin upon the human race, sickness, death and disease, will all be put in check.
- The people who heard of Him and saw Him in action brought people to Him for healing.
- We are supposed to come to Jesus personally, but we are also supposed to bring people to Him for healing. They came to Him for healing and guess what: He healed them!
- Does Jesus still heal people? Absolutely. Does He heal everyone? No.
- That same thing is true today. But notice that they did not discriminate.
- They brought people who were spiritually oppressed. Demonic possession.
- They brought people who were physically oppressed. Epilepsy.
- And they brought people who were bodily oppressed. Paralysis.
- There was not a disease that He did not heal. But why? To authenticate His message, in order that people might believe in His message. His works showed the truth of His words!
- At this point in Christ's ministry, there were multitudes that followed Him from all over Israel.
- But they did not follow Jesus as the disciples did. They followed looking for the spectacular.
- Wherever He went, something spectacular would indeed take place.
Conclusion
- Today, we are reminded that God calls the world around us to come to Him. That's His message. Are we faithfully echoing that message? Are we willing?
- Perhaps we would be reminded of the call that Christ might have upon our lives. He calls us to follow Him. Are you?
- Finally, I am stirred to remind us that Jesus is the only healer. If we believe that, we need to be reminded that people brought the sick to Jesus!
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